Michael “Flathead” Blanchard, middle, rides with friends as a child. Blanchard, 66, died in April, 2011. A year later, in anticipation of a remembrance celebration, his family placed a loving, colorful obituary in The Denver Post. Photo courtesy of Blanchard’s son, who is also named Mike.

When it comes time to have your life summed up in three paragraphs of newspaper fine print, you can only hope it will read like this:

“He died as a result of being stubborn, refusing to follow doctors’ orders and raising hell for more than six decades. He enjoyed booze, guns, cars and younger women until the day he died.”

Such was the eulogy to Michael “Flathead” Blanchard that his family placed in Thursday’s Denver Post, an obituary to transcend all obituaries. Since it appeared in the newspaper, the obituary has found life in cyberspace, being tweeted, shared and pinned by thousands of people who did not know the man.

It listed his cat, Chopper, among his sons. It described childhood friends as growing up to become “criminals, prostitutes and/or Democrats.” It recommended against bringing children under 18 to the memorial because of the adult nature of the stories to be shared.

That, it turns out, the obituary was placed nearly a year after Blanchard’s death only adds to its charm.

Blanchard’s son, also named Mike, said today that Blanchard had a rough draft of his obituary started when he died.

Blanchard’s brother, Steve, said Blanchard died last year from colon cancer. The family chose to wait to hold a memorial service this year, near the one-year anniversary of his death.

Steve Blanchard said his wife, Susan, and Blanchard’s son put together the finished draft as a tribute to how Blanchard lived and how he would want to be remembered.

“He lived every minute to its fullest,” Steve said, “and then some.”

Blanchard was born in Denver and grew up in Lakewood, Steve said. His passion was restoring old Fords from the early 1930s. That’s where the nickname “Flathead” — for a type of engine — comes from.

A proud Republican and National Rifle Association member, Blanchard also took an interest in civil rights and defending those in need. Blanchard’s son said one of his father’s proudest moments was helping to save Dr. Justina Ford’s house in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood from demolition.

“He thought it was important to tell her story,” Mike Blanchard said of his dad.

Mike and his wife, Gwynne, will be hosting a celebration of Blanchard at 3 p.m. on Saturday at 8160 Rosemary St. in Commerce City. They hope Blanchard’s friends will stop in, have a laugh, share a story.

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